I really appreciate that people create these devices and that they are so passionate about them. Personally, however, I have never been interested in stuff like this because I tend to use my computer from many different positions, and in many different locations, throughout an average day. So despite actually owning a fairly nice mechanical keyboard, I almost always end up using the laptop’s built-in keyboard.
On the one hand, I’m sure it’s not great on my wrists; but on the other hand, sitting / standing in many different positions is, at least according to my massage therapist, the best thing I could possibly do for the rest of my body.
This kind of use case is why I have always wanted to try a bluetooth one-handed chorded keyboard. A keyboard that I can keep in a pocket and use while walking around sounds great but they’ve always been a bit more expensive than I want to pay for something with a steep learning curve that I might not end up being able to devote enough time to that I learn to use it properly.
Same here, there was an article a couple of days ago about someone building their own one of those too. The cost of chorded keyboards is way out of whack with what they really are, in reality they should be cheaper than normal keyboards, which my supermarket sells for like $15. They require less physical material to build and there is nothing special about the construction.
I think the problem is just that they haven’t caught on enough to make mass production viable. I think an open hardware effort crowdfunded on sites like lobste.rs could have a lot of success though.
I’ve seen a kickstarter/similar for a one-handed mobile keyboard, connected using bluetooth. I even had a colleague who had bought it but never used it.
But I can’t find any name or reference to this keyboard anymore. :(
OP here. Yeah I still use a laptop keyboard occasionally. I used to love working at coffee shops pre-covid but for me it’s mostly about limiting those sessions to short bursts then my hands are OK. I use kmonad to make the laptop built-in keyboard do some of the fancy QMK tricks like layers and mod-taps. You are right that variety is a key aspect.
This is great, I want one.
Just a small comment based on my personal experience however: As someone who spends unhealthy amounts of time using the computer, finger grease build up is a serious issue. Not having key caps could get a bit gross after a while, not to mention a combination of grease and dust could(?) interfere with the switching mechanism.
I am not saying drop everything and focus solely on cleanability, just don’t forget it as a factor. Having said that the generic market keyboards mostly suck at this too.
Wiping down the switches is probably OK. But as an inventor there’s like 0 chance of any given iteration of this thing lasting longer than 6 months so I expect to be swapping them out for newer revisions pretty regular. I bought (checks notes) 3 different commercial split ergo keyboards this year. :-) The switches are mostly sealed and I’ve personally never had a switch fail for any reason and I worked IT in a college computer lab. It’s not enough of a risk for me to factor it into this project which already has a dozen difficult constraints to address. Eventually I’d like the swiches to be hot swap anyway so they could be removed and soaked in isopropyl alcohol if they got greasy.
So my original conception was for this to be a vertical design used in joystick orientation similar to Victor Eikman’s Concertina. After a lot of prototyping I decided to back off that requirement which added a lot of challenges and go for typical horizontal layout flat on the desk with optional tenting.
I always wondered why there aren’t more keyboards with vertical orientation (“joystick”). If I lay my hands down on a desk, this position seems more natural without any rotation of the lower arm. What makes it so complicated?
This is fascinating. I use an ErgoDox EZ and I love it, however seeing posts like this makes me think there must be many more possibilities to further improve the split keyboard design!
This reminds me of the DataHand keyboards I always wanted to try. Very cool to see!
There seems to be a 3d-printable clone/revamp of it now available at: https://github.com/JesusFreke/lalboard
That’s so cool, thank you for posting!
I really appreciate that people create these devices and that they are so passionate about them. Personally, however, I have never been interested in stuff like this because I tend to use my computer from many different positions, and in many different locations, throughout an average day. So despite actually owning a fairly nice mechanical keyboard, I almost always end up using the laptop’s built-in keyboard.
On the one hand, I’m sure it’s not great on my wrists; but on the other hand, sitting / standing in many different positions is, at least according to my massage therapist, the best thing I could possibly do for the rest of my body.
This kind of use case is why I have always wanted to try a bluetooth one-handed chorded keyboard. A keyboard that I can keep in a pocket and use while walking around sounds great but they’ve always been a bit more expensive than I want to pay for something with a steep learning curve that I might not end up being able to devote enough time to that I learn to use it properly.
Same here, there was an article a couple of days ago about someone building their own one of those too. The cost of chorded keyboards is way out of whack with what they really are, in reality they should be cheaper than normal keyboards, which my supermarket sells for like $15. They require less physical material to build and there is nothing special about the construction.
I think the problem is just that they haven’t caught on enough to make mass production viable. I think an open hardware effort crowdfunded on sites like lobste.rs could have a lot of success though.
I’ve seen a kickstarter/similar for a one-handed mobile keyboard, connected using bluetooth. I even had a colleague who had bought it but never used it.
But I can’t find any name or reference to this keyboard anymore. :(
If you’re into DIY, there’s an old project description at: https://chordite.com/
OP here. Yeah I still use a laptop keyboard occasionally. I used to love working at coffee shops pre-covid but for me it’s mostly about limiting those sessions to short bursts then my hands are OK. I use kmonad to make the laptop built-in keyboard do some of the fancy QMK tricks like layers and mod-taps. You are right that variety is a key aspect.
This is great, I want one. Just a small comment based on my personal experience however: As someone who spends unhealthy amounts of time using the computer, finger grease build up is a serious issue. Not having key caps could get a bit gross after a while, not to mention a combination of grease and dust could(?) interfere with the switching mechanism.
I am not saying drop everything and focus solely on cleanability, just don’t forget it as a factor. Having said that the generic market keyboards mostly suck at this too.
Wiping down the switches is probably OK. But as an inventor there’s like 0 chance of any given iteration of this thing lasting longer than 6 months so I expect to be swapping them out for newer revisions pretty regular. I bought (checks notes) 3 different commercial split ergo keyboards this year. :-) The switches are mostly sealed and I’ve personally never had a switch fail for any reason and I worked IT in a college computer lab. It’s not enough of a risk for me to factor it into this project which already has a dozen difficult constraints to address. Eventually I’d like the swiches to be hot swap anyway so they could be removed and soaked in isopropyl alcohol if they got greasy.
I always wondered why there aren’t more keyboards with vertical orientation (“joystick”). If I lay my hands down on a desk, this position seems more natural without any rotation of the lower arm. What makes it so complicated?
By the way, what a great research and effort!
This is fascinating. I use an ErgoDox EZ and I love it, however seeing posts like this makes me think there must be many more possibilities to further improve the split keyboard design!
For me squeezebox was always https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squeezebox_(network_music_player). Slightly confused at first :-)